diff --git a/lib/biocode/utils.py b/lib/biocode/utils.py
index 3eb3dd61..d32b5687 100644
--- a/lib/biocode/utils.py
+++ b/lib/biocode/utils.py
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@
 import re
 import sys
 
-from biocode import utils
-
 ## used for nt reverse complements
 _nt_comp_table = bytes.maketrans(b'ACBDGHKMNSRUTWVYacbdghkmnsrutwvy', \
                                  b'TGVHCDMKNSYAAWBRtgvhcdmknsyaawbr')